Look and Feel

The term look and feel (LAF; German look and feel, "feel " appearance ) denotes standardized design aspects in software with graphical user interface or on websites ( web design). This includes, for example, the choice of colors, the layout of graphical elements and their response to user input, fonts, operation via the keyboard, etc.

The look and feel is usually standardized by manufacturers or consortia and allows a degree of recognition of software from different manufacturers or operating systems. For example, the function to close a window is determined mostly by the look and feel of the operating system. On Windows, it is activated by clicking on the "X" in the upper right of the window, while the same on OS X function is activated by clicking on the red circle in the upper left of the window.

The more complex a software is, the more important is the intuitive usability. Is the look and feel well thought out, the users find their way around better and can use the program efficiently without the need to learn all the functions one by one; they feel comfortable with the program.

Furthermore, they offer many interfaces for generating user the option of representation using ' themes ' ( engl. themes ) to change. This may be the user- selection of color schemes, fonts, font sizes or styles, but also the complete graphical change in the graphical user interface (for example, the simulation of the user interface of another operating system).

Examples of exchangeable topics are the user interface of Mac OS and Mac OS X, Windows XP as well as some window managers under Linux. In the area of ​​programming languages ​​Swing is mentioned.